EDITORIAL – IT’S A GOOD THING JAIL WON’T BE COMING TO OSOYOOS
Posted on 30 March 2011 by admin
OSOYOOS TIMES-March 30, 2011
Even if we had the land for it, building a jail in the Osoyoos area would be a bad idea.
This community relies on tourism to stay alive and despite the prospects of hundreds of jobs, having a prison in the area would likely cast a shadow on the sunny, welcoming nature of this resort town.
Whistler wouldn’t want a jail nearby, nor would Banff or Lake Louise.
Regardless of how secure a facility might be, many communities with prisons are often tagged with a stigma.
Whether that stigma is deserved or not, people, especially those looking for a vacation, don’t view prisons as attractive.
How much would bleak walls, fences and the prospect of hundreds of sequestered criminals contrast against our inviting beaches, green orchards and friendly town?
So, the Town of Osoyoos is making the right move in getting behind the concept of putting a jail in the region and not the Osoyoos area.
Mayor Stu Wells said Osoyoos council has drafted its “strongest” letter of support yet to the province for a concept being put forth by the Osoyoos Indian Band to locate the prison the government wants to build in the Okanagan Valley at its new industrial park north of Oliver.
Should the band be successful in convincing the government to build the prison on its land, Osoyoos would still benefit – through the creation of local jobs and the corresponding opportunity to bring more families to this area — without having a jail in its backyard.
Well it goes on and on, we want nothing in Osoyoos, just low paying jobs in the service industry. It is about time council gets its head out of the sand. We are going down hill fast–look at Oliver. Limit store sizes etc., soon we will be a nothing place. Wait until the high school closes as a result of no students. Why would a young family move here to to barely exist? Time for a major shakeup in this sleepy hollow of a town. A jail why not, maybe it will be across the lake on OIB land and we can all look at it.
The old stuck up, not in my backyard syndrome. Not here, we are good clean citizens with reputations to consider. Someone else can have it. Perhaps one of the lesser communities. After all, we never produce any criminals in Osoyoos. We are only good people here.
John–A nearby prison will attract young families, right? Because that’s EXACTLY the kind of sleepy, safe, small-town atmosphere they want for their children.
Oliver is in a worse economic situation than Osoyoos–if they want it, they should be able to have it and we can support them. The editor is spot on with his opinion.
You two will have to elaborate on how NIMBYism is involved here. The editor–rightly so–is considering the detrimental effects on our primary industry.
Disagree. You are foolish to think that Osoyoos is only a tourist town. it is an amazing town, but a prison does not “cast a shadow”, there are prisons everywhere, the prisoners go all over the province once out. You have some of them now, guaranteed.
No park. No prison. Thank you very much, but you can take the jobs and shove them. After all, why would we want our kids to not have to move away to find work. We got ours, they can suck it up.
The so-called Tough on Crime initiative is a terrible idea, but if we have to put up with it, I do look forward to the millions and millions of dollars it will bring to the region.
Ignorance and shortsightedness are the regions third largest export after wine and impaired drivers. Since most of us reading these articles won’t own million dollar vineyards, and impaired driving doesn’t pay so well, maybe we should be looking to attract some jobs here.
Does anyone seriously believe that the prison is going to attract trouble? It’s not like inmates will get out and decide to settle here because they can reminisce about the good times they had in the shower.
Besides, it will cut down on the travel time for your kids to see daddy.
So? What’s the matter with building a jail here or anywhere? What is everybody thinking that Osoyoos is “Mr. Roger’s Neighbourhood?,” give me a break……